Well, you could see this coming a mile away. EA was betting the farm on Star Wars: The Old Republic and it didn’t exactly reach the World of Warcraft expectations that the Redwood Shores company was hoping for. So what… Continue Reading →

Well, you could see this coming a mile away. EA was betting the farm on Star Wars: The Old Republic and it didn’t exactly reach the World of Warcraftexpectations that the Redwood Shores company was hoping for. So what does it do now?

It’s time for Plan B. It’s time for The Old Republic to go free-to-play. EA announced today that starting this fall, the Star Wars MMO will have a free-to-play option. It does the following:

1) Gives players access to each of the eight iconic Star Wars character class storylines

2) Lets players hit up to level 50

3) New higher-level game content and features are available through individual purchases or a subscription. That’s the rub.

What other ways does subscription differ from free-to-play? Well, subscribers get unlimited access to all the game features and they get monthly grants of Cartel Coins, a new virtual currency. It sounds like this is a new way for EA to separate in-game credits (ie funds you earn through gameplay) and currency that players buy with real-world money. Cartel coins can be used to purchase in-game items that include customizeable gear and convenience features aka stuff that won’t make the game unbalanced.

It looks like some new content and “advance player features” and are going to be locked for free-to-play players and they can be “unlocked” with Cartel Coins.

On top of that, Star Wars: The Old Republic will go on sale for $14.99 with a one-month subscription free.

So what do you think? Is it enough for you to go back and help Vette? You can check out more on Star Wars: The Old Republic free to play here.

Forget the hype. Literally, just forget it. If you can let go of the weighty expectations surrounding it, you can appreciate what Kinect Star Wars really is. It’s not an in-depth, laser-focused Star Wars game where players go through a… Continue Reading →

If you can let go of the weighty expectations surrounding it, you can appreciate what Kinect Star Wars really is. It’s not an in-depth, laser-focused Star Wars game where players go through a complex campaign. The upcoming title is more of a jack of all trades, a project that features a Jedi Campaign in addition to several other diversions.

I had a chance to check it out this month at the Xbox 360 Spring Showcase and was surprised with game’s versatility rather than its story mode. The Jedi Campaign features combat where players take on the role of Jedi sent to Kashyyk to fight forces of the Trade Federation. In adventure that takes place after Episode 1 but before the Clone Wars, players will meet some familiar faces such as Yoda and Mace Windu and use gestures to do battle.

They can do moves such as a Force Push or a telekinetically grab trees or rocks and toss them at foes. Players can even kick foes. For those who play Star Wars: The Old Republic, jumping in the air lets players perform a Force Leap attack on foes. If that weren’t enough, there’s also a space flight, a landspeeder level. There’s even boss fights that players can check out as its own separate mode.

The Pod Racing mode is the most beautiful part of the game. This is what you should be excited for.

POD RACING IS VISUALLY IMPRESSIVE: From what I’ve seen, that was OK, but the mode that caught my eye was the Pod Racing. Visually, it was the most impressive, especially in 3D. It has a great sense of speed and coupled with the gesture controls of the Kinect, it almost feels like you’re racing in the dangerous vehicles. Players can even fend off hazards such as Wampa rats and avoid attacks from Tusken Raiders.

Each track has multiple short cuts and good level of detail. For example, on the Tatooine track, players can smash into moisture farms and that will leave water on the screen. (That’s a nice touch.) Like in other modes, the Pod Racing feature boasts a full career as players go through tracks in Bespin, Boonta Eve and Coruscant. It’s by far the best mode in the game, and it may be even worth the price of admission.

In the Jedi Campaign, players will go through some space flights.

IT’S LIKE THE OLD RAMPAGE GAME EXCEPT WITH RANCORS: Although the Galactic Dance Off caught my attention (It sounds like a Just Dance clone using Star Wars characters), the other minigame that stood out was the Rancor Rampage. It puts players in the role of the giant creature made famous when it tried to chow down on Luke in Return of the Jedi. They go through several towns such as Mos Eisley destroying everything in their path and getting points. As their path of rampage continues, players will face fiercer obstacles and enemies such as AT-AT walkers and TIE fighters.

As with pod racing, the controls for this is done via gesture controls and it seems to work well. The control scheme is intuitive. Players can slash and whip around their arms to cause damage. They can jump in the air to cause a destructive shock wave. Aside from Tatooine, the Rancor Rampage will also have levels on Naboo. (Maybe you can take down Jar Jar.) In addition, there are different species of Rancors in each level, including larger bulls and ones with wings.

Just as long as players set their expectations to the appropriate level, Kinect Star Wars may be a good game. It just depends on how the gesture control works, but players can find out for themselves when Kinect Star Wars is released in April 3.

By Mike DeCicco Guest reviewer Indiana Jones is back in this new game from Lucasarts, but I gotta tell ya’ – ol’ Indy doesn’t deserve this. To be sure, there are worse games out there and it does have its… Continue Reading →

Indiana Jones is back in this new game from Lucasarts, but I gotta
tell ya’ – ol’ Indy doesn’t deserve this.

To be sure, there are worse games out there and it does have its
redeeming qualities – Indy actually looks and sounds like Harrison
Ford, the scenery isn’t too shabby and the game makes effective use of
the whip (something that could be easily screwed up and overdone).

And
super bonus – if you collect enough hidden artifacts in the game, you
can unlock Han Solo. Play the game as Han (no Wookie included), but
still use Indy’s whip instead of a blaster. Regrettably, you still fly
an airplane instead of the Millennium Falcon, but you can’t have everything. The
game has decent pacing, and none of the levels are overly hard – you
are always progressing and moving the story along. Which is good,
because in a game like this the last thing you want to do is get
bogged down.

Why? That’s because this game’s flaws, which permeate just about every
section, are too great to overcome.

The basic story is like every Indy movie — an artifact needs to be
found, the Nazis are already on the trail and Indy gets into a few
tight spots, but with a crack of the whip and a sharp comment, he
saves the day. If you were expecting something else, you don’t know
Indy. In this case, the Staff of Kings is the staff Moses used to part
the Red Sea.

I have two main concerns with this game. The first is that the game
often feels like one giant cut scene that requires you to waggle the
Wii remote every now and then. In fact, there are parts of the game
where this is literally true – you’ll be lulled to sleep by another
cut scene only to have some instructions suddenly pop up on the screen
telling you to hit ‘A’ or wave the controllers around.

It was as if
the developer, A2M, knew you were gonna be bored and they wanted to make sure you’re
paying attention (you won’t be). It’s as if you’re on a conveyor belt
— you move through the game and do what the developers tell you.
Actually, that last part is true – everything you need to do, the game
tells you (it tells you when to hit what button with on-screen
popups). Sometimes it feels like you’ve never left the tutorial.

The second concern is a standard one with lesser Wii games. First, the
controls are often unresponsive (especially when you’re using a crane
to smash Nazi’s with a grand piano in the cargo hold of a zeppelin.
Yes, that’s right and it’s as silly as it sounds). The other part of that
is one that many Wii developers haven’t solved — the balance between
good gameplay and good gameplay on the Wii. Just because waggling the
Wii remote around is possible, doesn’t mean it’s OK in every instance. I
lost track of how many times I felt I was waving the remote around for
silly reasons — like when Indy slips off a ledge and you have to beat
the controllers back and forth like maracas to keep him from plunging
to his death. Necessary or a cheap excuse to make Wii owners feel like
they’re doing something? I’ll tell ya, it ain’t necessary. It’s
annoying.

The game felt predictable in spots (a bridge will ALWAYS collapse,
Indy will ALWAYS lose his footing on a ledge) and the puzzles were
laughable to anybody who’s ever played a Zelda game.
This is a decidedly average adventure game, and certainly not worth
the money. Heck, even theKingdom of the Crystal
Skull was better.

]]>http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2009/06/18/indiana-jones-and-the-staff-of-kings-guest-review/feed/6Indiana Jones and Staff of KingsIndiana Jones and Staff of KingsNew Indiana Jones game looks better than last moviehttp://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2009/01/26/new-indiana-jones-game-for-the-wii/
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2009/01/26/new-indiana-jones-game-for-the-wii/#respondMon, 26 Jan 2009 21:26:10 +0000http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/?p=11177There’s a new Indiana Jones game on the way and guess what? It’s apparently coming sooner than you would think. According to this trailer, Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings is coming Spring 2009. If that in game footage… Continue Reading →

There’s a new Indiana Jones game on the way and guess what? It’s apparently coming sooner than you would think. According to this trailer, Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings is coming Spring 2009. If that in game footage is indicative of what the game will actually look like on the Wii, I’m pretty excited.

That’s right, a new Star Wars MMO. And it’s called Star Wars: The Old Republic. That’s right, it’s set during the same era as the Knights of the Old Republic series. The amount of information released is staggering, so here… Continue Reading →

That’s right, a new Star Wars MMO. And it’s called Star Wars: The Old Republic. That’s right, it’s set during the same era as the Knights of the Old Republic series.

The amount of information released is staggering, so here are the highlights:

The story is absolutely massive. According to the developers, there are no simple “Collect X items by killing monsters.” quests, everything has a purpose that advances the story. And on top of that each class has its own complete story…you could play through twice and never see the same quests twice.

While you do choose Jedi or Sith, you aren’t choosing good or evil right away; Jedi aren’t necessarily good and Sith aren’t necessarily bad. There is a stigma to being Sith, but in the KOTOR tradition it’s the decisions you make that change your alignment, not an arbitrary selection at the start of the game.

The game explains the origins of the Sith for those of us who never read the EU novels. The short version is that it was founded by exiled Dark Jedi who subjugated a race called the Sith, intermarried and founded the Jedi’s counterpart. During the game they have an uneasy truce with the Jedi with their own areas, which is an MMO standard.

There will be very little instancing. It won’t be like WoW where everyone has a chance to line up and kill some epic evil, once an epic evil is dead it’s dead. It goes back to the importance of story.

There’s more of course but those are the “Why isn’t this just Galaxies again?” highlights. It really does sound different than previous MMOs in several fundamental ways, it addresses many problems I have with the genre and, given the combined pedigree of LucasArts, BioWare and the Star Wars name, it’s the first real contender to be the next big MMO, following in the steps of Ultima Online, Everquest and World of Warcraft.

In the not-surprising department, NamcoBandai announced that Soulcalibur IV will be getting new downloadable content. As for what it is, it’s nothing that you haven’t played already. Darth Vader and Yoda are now available for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox… Continue Reading →

In the not-surprising department, NamcoBandai announced that Soulcalibur IV will be getting new downloadable content. As for what it is, it’s nothing that you haven’t played already. Darth Vader and Yoda are now available for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Apparently, the magic character exclusivity apparatus has gone down.

Now, players are free to have their dream matchup: Yoda vs. Vader. We all know how this is going to end. Vader is going to punt Yoda all over the map.

Anyway, the DLC will be available Oct. 23. on Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network for 400 Microsoft Points and $4.99, respectively.

As you may have heard there’s a little Star Wars game coming out, The Force something-or-other, that the kids have been buzzing about. If you’re interested in it, if that’s your thing, I guess there’s a demo on Xbox Live and PSN.

Ok, fine, I’m ridiculously excited about the existence of a demo of The Force Unleashed but I’m bitter because I can’t play it. My 360 keeps locking up on me but it won’t RRoD, it’s stuck in a limbo between ‘working’ and ‘covered under warranty’ so I’m stuck wishing I could play it but not actually doing so. But you should download it. And tell me how it is so I can live vicariously through you.

Update: I kept my 360 running long enough to finish the demo and, seriously, try this game. Even if you don’t like Star Wars. Try it. You’ll thank me.

]]>http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2008/08/21/force-unleashed-demo-is-online/feed/0What a LEGO Kingdom of Crystal Skull may look likehttp://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2008/06/03/what-a-lego-kingdom-of-crystal-skull-may-look-like/
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2008/06/03/what-a-lego-kingdom-of-crystal-skull-may-look-like/#respondTue, 03 Jun 2008 17:50:57 +0000http://www.ibabuzz.com/videogames/2008/06/03/what-a-lego-kingdom-of-crystal-skull-may-look-like/Too bad, there isn’t an Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull section to the new LEGO Indian Jones (look for a review Thursday) but for those wanting to see what a level may look like, check out… Continue Reading →

]]>http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2008/06/03/what-a-lego-kingdom-of-crystal-skull-may-look-like/feed/0LEGO Indiana Jones Gameplay Videohttp://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2008/03/07/lego-indiana-jones-gameplay-video/
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2008/03/07/lego-indiana-jones-gameplay-video/#respondFri, 07 Mar 2008 15:20:14 +0000http://www.ibabuzz.com/videogames/2008/03/07/lego-indiana-jones-gameplay-video/During my excursion to LucasArts during GDC (I know, I mention it too much, but it was like going to the chocolate factory without getting shrunk or turning into a blueberry) I was shown gameplay video for LEGO Indiana Jones.… Continue Reading →

]]>During my excursion to LucasArts during GDC (I know, I mention it too much, but it was like going to the chocolate factory without getting shrunk or turning into a blueberry) I was shown gameplay video for LEGO Indiana Jones. The boulder scene specifically settled it in my mind, it was going to be better than LEGO Batman.

Then LucasArts didn’t include that part in the media kit so I couldn’t show you all the wonders that I had seen.

I have one exclusive screenshot of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. The rest are more or less the things you’ve seen before. So enjoy this brand new and never-before-seen (except by me and whoever took it) frame of the highly… Continue Reading →

I have one exclusive screenshot of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. The rest are more or less the things you’ve seen before. So enjoy this brand new and never-before-seen (except by me and whoever took it) frame of the highly anticipated game. It should hold you over until my extensive preview tomorrow.